Two approaches to fostering "your place"
Two approaches to fostering "your place"
Kageyama
When family, home, or work no longer provide a place for belonging, where do we turn and how can we live happily? I think this is a very modern and urban question. The internet and social media are one outlet for this, but I think that alone makes it difficult to empathize with the various emotions and subtleties of human beings, especially negative emotions such as pain, anger, and sadness.
Sado Island
I believe that online communities can be a place to empathize with such feelings. Let's say someone on Collabo, a community we run to train community producers, says, "I feel kind of tired." Then, someone else might respond, "Are you okay? Shall we meet up now?" In this way, I think it's important for online communities to maintain continuity between online and offline.
Kageyama
In my case, I want to first build relationships with people centered around Kurumido Coffee, and then in the next step, create an opportunity for those people to start something of their own accord. The study group, which I call "Kotojuku," is an initiative to nurture the seeds of new ideas in this way. It's not a relationship of teaching and learning, but an invitation to learn together. Before you know it, various people will be excited like in a grove, and Kurumido Coffee will be just one tree among them. That's the future I envision.
Some members of Kurumi Juku started to suggest things like barbecues and training camps, but when we were adjusting the dates, they would say, "Kageyama-san, this is a day that you can't do, but we'll do it on this day" (laughs). The original suggestion was excluded, but in a way, it was also a very happy story.
Sado Island
So the community has started to become independent from Kageyama-san (laughs). In fact, Collabo has a similar philosophy. When I was working for a company, I sold my time in the form of work, but at Collabo, if you want to do something, you can do it, and those who want to do it can do it, and we support everyone in taking action on their own. Just like Kageyama-san, "As long as you're alive, the most important thing is to be happy and have fun. Let's make this a place where you can do what you want!"
But on the other hand, I personally have a strong desire to read Chuya Koyama's new works. I want the author to be able to create what he wants to create, so he needs a fan community as a guarantee that his work will sell to a certain extent. So, that's something that needs to be managed. Either way, it's a way to bring out people's talents.
Kageyama
These two approaches are also relevant to the future of business management. Should we conduct business activities like building cars, or like growing plants? Just as cars have blueprints, we consider how to efficiently reach our destination by combining various management resources, such as the sales volume and merchandise functions of a cafe. On the other hand, a plant-like approach has no blueprint, and even if it has genes, the final shape of the tree or forest it will grow into is not yet decided. In other words, it is an engineering approach and a life-theory approach, and I personally would like to think about Kurumido Coffee and the town of Nishi-Kokubunji using the latter method.
Sado Island
This story made me think of the town of Obihiro. While most of Hokkaido was developed by Tondenhei soldiers, Obihiro was the only place with a historical background in which civilian soldiers were used, and as a result there are almost no chain stores in the town. The town also reflects the spirit of "We are not people who do things because we are told, but people who do things ourselves." It's interesting to see how a town takes on its own unique colors in this way.
Kageyama
That's interesting. I would like to reach that level of mind.
- CREDIT
- - Organized by: NTT Urban Development Co., Ltd. Design Management Office
- - Planning and direction: Takram
- - Talk host: Kotaro Watanabe (Takram), Keita Fukasawa (freelance editor)
- - Compiled by: Keita Fukasawa (freelance editor)
- CREDIT
- - Organized by: NTT Urban Development Co., Ltd. Design Management Office
- - Planning and direction: Takram
- - Talk host: Kotaro Watanabe (Takram), Keita Fukasawa (freelance editor)
- - Compiled by: Keita Fukasawa (freelance editor)
RELATED PROJECTS
Harajuku Station Front Project
(Scheduled to open in 2020 / Design: Takenaka Corporation + Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects)
NTT Urban Development is planning to create a place in front of Harajuku Station called "A Hangout Spot Spinning into the Future," where people can interact and make unprecedented discoveries and experiences.
In 2020, Harajuku will evolve even further as a place to present new culture and creativity to the world.
Harajuku Station Front Project
(Scheduled to open in 2020 / Design: Takenaka Corporation + Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects)
NTT Urban Development is planning to create a place in front of Harajuku Station called "A Hangout Spot Spinning into the Future," where people can interact and make unprecedented discoveries and experiences.
In 2020, Harajuku will evolve even further as a place to present new culture and creativity to the world.